Lever actuated safety mechanism for a firearm

ABSTRACT

A LEVER ACTUATED SAFETY MECHANISM FOR A FIREARM OF THE GENERAL TYPE HAVING A BOLT ASSEMBLY RECIPROCATABLY OPERABLE RESPONSIVE TO ARCUATE MOVEMNT OF A COCKING LEVER, AND FURTHER HAVING A TRIGGER MECHANISM TO RELEASE THE HAMMER FROM THE COCKED POSITION INCLUDING A RELEASABLE MEMBER NORMALLY ENGAGING THE TRIGGER MECHANISM TO PRECLUDE THE RELEASE BY THE TRIGGER MECHANISM THE HAMMER FROM THE COCKED POSITION UNTIL THE COCKING LEVER ENGAGES THE RELEASABLE MEMBER FOR A SMALL ARC OF LEVER ROTATION TO DISENGAGE THE RELEASABLE MEMBER FROM THE TRIGGER MECHANISM, THEREBY PERMITTING THE OPERATION OF THE TRIGGER MECHANISM TO RELEAST THE HAMMER FROM THE COCKED POSITION.

Sept. 20, 1971 Filbd July 15. 1969 FIGJ R. E. DOMIAN LEVER AGTUATEDSAFETY MECHANISM FOR A FIREARM 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 p 1971 R. E. DOMIAN3,605,312

LEVER ACTUATED SAFLTY MECHANISM FOR A FIREARM Filed July 15, 1969 3Sheets-Sheet 2 F|G 3 y J3 id -22 r y; l it 1 J! i W W 4% i '4 p 1971 R.E. DOMIAN 3,605,312

LEVER ACTUATED SAFE-TY MECHANISM FOR A FIREARM Filed July 15, 1969 3Sheets-Sheet 3 EVBWMM United States Patent Oifice 3,605,312 PatentedSept. 20, 1971 U.S. Cl. 4270E 1] Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Alever actuated safety mechanism for a firearm of the general type havinga bolt assembly reciprocatably operable responsive to arcuate movementof a cocking lever, and further having a trigger mechanism to releasethe hammer from the cocked position including a releasable membernormally engaging the trigger mechanism to preclude the release by thetrigger mechanism the hammer from the cocked position until the cockinglever engages the releasable member for a small arc of lever rotation todisengage the releasable member from the trigger mechanism, therebypermitting the operation of the trigger mechanism to release the hammerfrom the cocked position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a new andimproved lever action rifle based on the operating principle of asemi-automatic rifle.

In particular, the present invention incorporates a lever which must beoperated in order to ready the rifle for the firing of the initialround. Ejection of the spent case and chambering of the fresh cartridgeis accomplished automatically in a manner well-known to those familiarwith the operation of semi-automatic rifle mechanisms.

While there are a wide variety of known lever action mechanisms used inmodern sporting rifles, the utilization of a cocking lever incombination with a mechanism for automatically successively ejecting aspent case and chambering a fresh cartridge eliminates the need for alocking system for the bolt. The particular operating characteristics ofthe instant lever-automatic rifle provides a highly reliable mechanismwithout the bolt locking system required of prior art lever actionrifles.

Additionally, the instant lever-automatic rifle mechanism providesoperational safety features whereby the trigger release mechanism isrendered inoperative unless the cocking lever is forcefully disposed andmaintained in the closed firing position.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A firearm is constructed to include a receiveradapted to constrain a bolt mechanism for reciprocal motion relative tothe receiver responsive to arcuate movement of a cocking lever. Atrigger mechanism is mounted in the receiver and engages the cockinglever in its retracted firing position. Upon closing the lever in itsretracted position, pressure is exerted on a disconnector link to pivotthe disconnector link away from the trigger release mechanism, thusallowing the firearm to be discharged. When the firearm is discharged,the bolt is automatically retracted, the spent cartridge case isejected, and the sear bar is disengaged from the sear. The bolt, urgedforward by the action of the recoil spring, engages the next freshcartridge and chambers this cartridge upon the return of the bolt to thebattery position. The lever is urged upon the operation of thedisconnector spring unless maintained in the fully retracted position bya superior counteracting force. Thus, the lever performs a functionsimilar to that of the well-known grip safety of an automatic pistol.

One embodiment of the instant firing mechanism includes a trigger stopmounted in the cocking lever which engages a corresponding notch in thetrigger when the cocking lever is in the fully retracted position suchthat once the trigger has been moved to its rearward position, thetrigger stop engages the notch in the trigger thereby preventing thetrigger from returning to its normal firing position until the lever hasbeen pivoted downward an arcuate distance approximately 5 to therebypermit the trigger stop to disengage from the trigger, allowing thetrigger to return to its normal firing position.

It is accordingly a principal object of the present invention to providea lever actuated firing mechanism in which the trigger release mechanismis rendered inoperative unless the cocking lever is disposed andmaintained in the retracted firing position.

An additional object of the present invention is the provision of acocking lever which coacts with the trigger mechanism in such a manneras to propel the cocking lever away from the retracted firing positionunless opposed by a superior counteracting force.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a lever actuatedmechanism for a firearm wherein the lever must be pivoted through thefull cocking stroke to load the first cartridge into the chamber, andupon firing the first cartridge the spent cartridge case is ejected andthe next cartridge is chambered with the actuation of the cocking lever.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a leveractuated firing mechanism in which the trigger mechanism includes arecess that engages mating structure of the cocking lever in theretracted position such that upon initial rearward movement of thetrigger, the trigger is retained in an inoperative position until thecocking lever has been displaced a finite arcuate distance from theretracted firing position.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide a leveractuated firing mechanism without a bolt locking system in which thecocking lever coacts with the bolt to load the initial cartridge intothe chamber, and upon firing the initial cartridge the bolt mechanismcoacts with the trigger mechanism to automatically eject the spentcartridge case and chamber the next fresh cartridge.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will bemore fully apparent to those skilled in the art from the followingdetailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention is illustrated by way ofexample in the accompanying drawings, which form part of thisapplication in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view showing the lever mechanism of thepresent invention incorporated in a firearm.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary side elevation view, partly in section, andbroken away to show the relation of the trigger, lever and boltmechanisms of the instant inventlon.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the structure of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a portion of the trigger mechanism showingthe lever in the open position.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of the trigger mechanism withthe lever in the closed position.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged view of an alternate embodiment with the leverclosed showing the relationship of the trigger and trigger stop afteractuation of the trigger.

3 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawingsin detail wherein like reference characters indicate like partsthroughout the several figures, referring to FIG. 1 by character ofreference, it may be seen that there is shown a firearm 2 adapted forlever actuated semi-automatic operation. For purposes of clarity andfuller understanding of the invention, the firearm 2 will be hereafterdescribed as a lever automatic rifle. A rotatable lever 4 is supportedon a trigger housing 6 for turning movement by a stationary pin 8.Trigger housing 6 is removably fixedly mounted to receiver 10. Lever 4is rotatable in an are about pivot 8 from a full cocking position to afully retracted firing position. At a position approximately of are fromthe full retracted position, as shown in FIG. 1, a wear pad 14 mountedon lever 4 engages one arm of L-shaped disconnector link 16.

To load the first cartridge, lever 4 is pivoted about pivot 8 to thefully cocked position. Lever extension arm 18 engages the contouredsurface 20 of bolt 22 such that bolt 22 is moved rearward compressingrecoil spring 24. Upon the pivotal movement of lever 4 toward theretracted firing position, bolt 22 is urged forward, picking up andchambering a cartridge. Upon discharge of the firearm, the force ofexpanding gases causes the bolt to move rearward responsive to therecoil force, thereby withdrawing the spent cartridge case with the boltand ejecting the spent case through ejector port 26 responsive to theaction of ejector 28, while simultaneously compressing recoil spring 24.Bolt 22 is urged forward by compressed recoil spring 24, picking up andchambering the next fresh cartridge, each successive reciprocal actionof bolt 22 subsequent to the initial reciprocal loading movement isaccomplished without the cocking operation of lever 4.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a hammer 30 is shown to be pivotably mounted totrigger housing 6 by a pivot pin 32. Hammer spring 34 urges hammer 30 ina clockwise direction about pivot pin 32. A sear 36 is pivotably mountedto trigger housing 6 by pivot pin 38. Sear 36 is biased upwardly in acounterclockwise direction by means of a sear spring (not shown).Trigger 4!] is pivotably mounted to trigger housing 6 by pivot pin 32.Sear bar 42 comprises a pair of substantially parallel arms integrallyjoined at their extremities by yokes 44 and 46, pivotably mounted totrigger by pivot pin 48. Sear bar 42 is biased upwardly in a clockwisedirection about pivot pin 48 by sear bar springs 50 such that yoke 46engages a rearwardly facing projection 52 of scar 36. As shown in FIG.2, when bolt 22 is moved rearward in sliding engagement with the uppersurface of trigger housing 6, the rearward facing surface of bolt 22engages hammer 30 such that hammer 30 is pivotably rotated in acounterclockwise direction about pivot 32 such that sear 36 acting underthe bias of the sear spring engages sear abutment 54 on the hammer 30 tothereby maintain the hammer in the cocked position. It can be seen fromFIG. 2, upon the appliaction of a force to trigger 40, the trigger willrotate in a clockwise direction about pivot 32 while sear bar 42pivotably connected to trigger 40 by pivot pin 48 will move forward andupward such that yoke 46 contacts projection 52 to rotate sear 36 aboutpivot 38 in a manner such that sear 36 disengages from sear abutment 54of hammer 30, thereby causing hammer 30 to rotate in a clockwisedirection responsive to the urging of hammer spring 34.

As best shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, disconnector link 16 is rotatablymounted to trigger housing 6 by pivot pin 56 and is urged in acounterclockwise direction into engagement with yoke 44 of sear bar 42by the action of disconnector spring 58. It can be seen from FIG. 4 thatwhen disconnector link 16 engages yoke 44 of sear bar 42, that clockwisemovement of trigger 40 about pivot pin 32 will cause sear bar 42 topivot about pivot pin 48 4 and the contact point of yoke 44 anddisconnector link 16 in a manner such that yoke 46 will move downwardand away from engagement with sear 36, thereby preventing the release ofhammer 30 so long as disconnector link 16 is in frictional engagementwith yoke 44 of sear bar 42.

Referring now to FIG. 5, it can be seen that when contact pad 14 oflever 4 is brought into engagement with disconnector link 16 andsufiicient force is applied to lever 4 to overcome the force ofdisconnector spring 58, disconnector link 16 will pivotably rotate in aclockwise direction about pivot pin 56 such that disconnector link 16disengages from yoke 44. As shown in FIG. 4, contact pad 14 of lever 4engages disconnector link 16 at a preselected position in the arcuatemovement of lever 4 approximately 5 from the fully retracted firingposition of lever 4.

Referring now to FIG. 5 wherein lever 4 is in the fully retracted firingposition, it can be seen that disconnector link 16 is removed fromengagement with yoke 44, and upon application of a force to trigger 40,the trigger will rotate about pivot pin 32 in a manner to release hammer40 from the cocked position, as described in detail heretofore. It canbe seen that once the force rotating lever 4 into engagement withdisconnector link 16 is removed, the counteracting force of disconnectorspring 58 is transmitted from disconnector link 16 to lever 4 viaengagement pad 14 such that lever 4 will be rotated about pivot 8 in acounterclockwise direction to a position where disconnector link 16engages yoke 44, and the operation of trigger mechanism 40 is disabled.

Referring now to FIG. 6 wherein an alternate embodiment of the instantinvention is shown with a resilient trigger stop 60, which acts somewhatlike a leaf-spring, mounted on lever 4 and a mating notch 62 is disposedin trigger 40. As can be seen from FIG. 6, when lever 4 is positioned inthe fully retracted position, disconnector link 16 is removed fromengagement with yoke 44. As described fully hereinabove, hammer 30 isreleased upon the application of a force to trigger 40 and trigger 40pivots about pivot pin 32 in a clockwise manner to a rearward triggerposition. In the FIG. 6 configuration, the firearm has been dischargedand the hammer has been returned into engagement with sear 36 by theaction of the bolt 22. In order to again fire the firearm, a user mustrelease his grip on lever 4, thereby permitting the lever to rotate(under the urging of disconnector link 16) in a counterclockwisedirection about pivot 8 through an arc of about 5. The rotation resultsin the tip or left extremity of stop 62 clearing the forwardmostvertical wall 62a of notch 62 which allows trigger 40 to return to itsforward firing position. It should be noted that the tip of stop 62 neednot necessarily contact the rearmost vertical wall 62b of the notch 62when the trigger has returned to its forward firing position, but thatthe notch is stepped so that stop 62 will lie within the contour of thetrigger. This prevents the stop 62 from presenting an unnecessaryprojection in the trigger cavity of lever 4. In order to again fire thefirearm, it is, of course, necessary to grip the lever 4 to displace itto the fully retracted position. This action will cause a slight bendingof stop 60, as the upper surface of the stop, adjacent the tip, cannotmove upwardly into notch 62 because this surface is in contact with thehorizontal wall 620 of the notch intermediate the forwardmost andrearwardmost vertical walls 62a and 62b. When the trigger is pulledrearwardly (to fire the firearm) a distance sufficient for the tip ofstop 62 to clear the horizontal wall, the stop 62 will snap into theposition shown in FIG. 6, thereby preventing the trigger from returningto its forward firing position until the user releases his grip on thelever 4.

Such a stop then provides a means to prevent the firearm from beingagain fired until the lever is released and subsequently gripped. Thus,the embodiment of FIG. 6 can be considered neither a semi-automaticfirearm nor a 5 single action firearm since it possesses thecharacteristics of both.

I claim:

1. In a firearm, the combination comprising,

hammer means mounted for movement between a cocked and a firingposition,

trigger means mounted to engage said hammer means to effect the releaseof said hammer means from the cocked position,

lever means for cocking said hammer means operable in an are from anextended cocking position to a retracted firing position,

means adapted to be engaged by said lever means to permit the release ofsaid hammer means from the cocked position by said trigger means when inengagement with said lever means in the retracted firing positionthereof and to prevent release of said hammer means from the cockedposition by said trigger means when not in engagement with said levermeans.

2. The structure, according to claim 1, wherein said last mentionedmeans includes a rotatable link urged into engagement with said triggermeans, and wherein said lever means engages said rotatable link for apreselected arcuate portion of said lever movement to release said linkfrom engagement with said trigger means,

3. The structure, according to claim 1, wherein said trigger meansincludes a rotatable trigger having a notch thereon, and said levermeans includes a lever having a stop member positioned thereupon suchthat when said trigger is rotated to its rearmost position, said memberis received in said trigger notch to maintain said trigger in itsrearmost position so long as said lever remains in the retracted firingposition.

4. The structure, according to claim 2, wherein the preselected portionof engagement between said rotatable link and said lever means comprisesan arc of substantially 5.

5. The structure, according to claim 3, wherein the substantiallyretracted firing position of said lever comprises an arc ofsubstantially 5.

6. In a firearm, the combination comprising,

firing means mounted for movement between cocked and firing positions,

lever means for cocking said firing means to move in an are between anextended cocking position and a retracted firing position,

trigger means to release said firing means from said cocked positionthereof upon the application of a force thereto,

means to prevent release of said firing means by the application of aforce to said trigger means in lever positions in at least an arcdefined from said extended cocking position to an intermediate positionspaced from said retracted firing position, and

means movable with said lever means to engage said release preventingmeans throughout the arc defined between said intermediate and retractedfiring positions and to displace said release preventing means to permitrelease of said firing means by application of a force to said triggermeans when said lever means is in said retracted firing position.

7. A lever actuated safety mechanism for a firearm comprising incombination,

a hammer mounted for movement between cocked and firing positions, atrigger mechanism operable to release said hammer from the cockedposition,

a releasable member engaging Said tr gg mechafllsm to preclude releaseof said hammer by said trigger mechanism when the latter engages saidreleasable member,

a lever for cocking said hammer rotatably operable through an arc froman extended cocking position to a retracted firing position,

said lever engaging said releasable member in a portion of said arcadjacent said retracted position to disengage said releasable memberfrom said trigger mechanism to thereby permit the release of said hammerfrom the cocked position in response to actuation of said trigger.

8. In a firearm including a receiver, the combination comprising,

hammer means mounted in said receiver for movement between a cocked anda firing position,

trigger means mounted in said receiver and engaging said hammer means toeffect the release of said hammer means from the cocked position,

lever means movable in an are from an extended cocking position to aretracted firing position,

bolt means adapted for reciprocal motion relative to said receiver andresponsive to arcuate movement of said lever means to position saidhammer means in the cocked position,

means adapted to be engaged by said lever means preventing the releaseof said hammer means from the cocked position until engaged by saidlever means in the retracted firing position thereof.

9. A lever actuated mechanism for a firearm comprisa trigger mounted formovement,

a lever rotatable through a finite are from an extended cocking positionto a retracted firing position,

a hammer mounted for movement between a cocked and a firing position,said lever being adapted to move said hammer from the firing position tothe cocked position,

a scar engaging said hammer to restrain said hammer in the cockedposition,

a sear bar connected to said trigger for displacing said sear uponmovement of said trigger to permit said hammer to move from its cockedposition to its firing position,

a rotatable disconnector link urged into engagement with said sear barto prevent said sear bar from dis placing said sear when force isapplied to said trigger,

said lever adapted to be manually brought into engagement with saiddisconnector link for a portion of said finite arc of lever rotation todisengage said disconnector link from said sear bar such that said searbar may contact and disengage said sear from said hammer upon movementof said trigger.

10. The mechanism, according to claim 9, wherein said disconnector linkincludes spring means generating a force that is impressed on said leverwhen said lever is in the retracted position such that when said leveris manually released said lever will rotate toward said cocking positiona portion of said finite arc of lever rotation to permit saiddisconnector link to engage said sear bar.

11. The mechanism, according to claim 10, wherein the portion of saidfinite arc of lever rotation comprises an arc of substantially 5".

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,091,190 3/1914 Castle 42/70(.5) 2,478,892 8/1949 Bistoff 42-70(.5) 3,471,961 10/1969 Lewis 4270(.5)

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner C. T. JORDAN, Assistant Examiner

